Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

you there and talk to you from above the atonement cover between the gold cherubim that hover over the Ark of the Covenant. From there I will give you my commands for the people of Israel.” (Ex. 25:22)

The backslidden nation of Israel foolishly carried the Ark into battle against the Philistines in the days of Eli, the High Priest: “If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies.” (1 Sam. 4:3) The Philistines fought ferociously that day and defeated the Israelites; “The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were killed.” (1 Sam. 4:11) But the captured Ark brought great judgment to all the people and gods of the Philistines; “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it will kill us all.” (1 Sam. 5:11) . After seven months in Philistia they returned the Ark to Israel on a cart pulled by oxen along with an offering: “Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land.” (1 Sam. 6:4) After a brief and disastrous stay in the small town of Beth-shemesh where the men unlaw- fully took off the atonement cover to look at the law and many died, it was taken to Kiriath-jearim. They took it to the hillside home of Abinadab; “The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time-twenty years in all. During that time, all Israel mourned because it seemed that the Lord had abandoned them.” (1 Sam. 7:1, 2) When David became King of Israel, he heard that the Ark was in “Ephrathah”, another name for the region of Ephraim, in the city of “Jaar”, ‘ …the shortened name for the city of Kiriath-jearim found in this psalm. 3 “It is time to bring back the Ark of our God, for we neglected it during the reign of Saul.” (1 Chron. 13:3) David made an unsuccessful attempt to bring the Ark back to Israel on a cart like the Philistines. When Uzzah the Levite touched the Ark to keep it from falling; “the Lord’s anger blazed out against Uzzah, and he struck him dead because he had laid his hand on the Ark.” (1 Chron. 13:10) It was a mistake to try and worship the God of Israel in a worldly way like the Philistines on a new cart. Uzzah was not a member of the special tribe of Levites who alone were called to ‘carry the Ark’ and so he brought death to the worship service. “So David decided not to move the Ark into the City of David. He took it instead to the home of Obed-edom of Gath. The Ark of God remained there with the family of Obed-edom for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.” (1 Chron. 13:14) After three months “…David summoned all the Israelites to Jerusalem to bring the Ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it…So all Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord’s covenant to Jerusalem with shouts of joy, the blowing of horns and trumpets, the crashing of cymbals, and loud playing on harps and lyres.” (1 Chron. 15:3, 28) So the strange journey of the Ark comes to a temporary rest in the Tent of David on Mount Zion for 40 years. The final moving of the Ark takes place when it is placed in the Most Holy Place of the Temple of Solomon: “Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Tem- ple¬–the Most Holy Place–and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim.” (2 Chron. 5:7) The most celebrated worship service of the Old Testament occurs at this moment; “The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words: ‘He is so good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a cloud filed the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their work because the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God.” (2 Chron. 5:13, 14) Centuries later Jesus, the fulfillment of all that the Ark represents to Israel, entered Jerusalem and the Temple in the greatest worship service recorded in the Gospels: “Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting, ‘Praise God for the Son of David! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven! The en- tire city of Jerusalem was stirred as he entered…” The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, ‘Praise God for the Son of David.’” (Mt. 21:8-10, 15) Wherever Jesus, the ‘Ark of God’s presence’ is welcomed, there will be celebration, adoration and joy! “Let us go to the dwelling place of the Lord; let us bow low before him. Arise, O Lord, and enter your sanctuary, along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.” (7, 8)

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